In today's digital landscape, AI, quantum computing, IoT, and other emerging technologies are rapidly evolving the value of data and its impact on business continuity and ROI. These technologies are creating an abundance of data that has to be managed, stored, and protected. This means that strong data management and maturity must be prioritized for companies to stay competitive, as the security of this data is imperative to mitigate operational and logistical downtime.
Datto is sounding the alarm for businesses to reevaluate their business continuity and disaster recovery plans with their 2025 The State of BCDR report, calling for companies to future-proof their data protection strategies. Businesses that face downtime or outages risk financial and reputational damage, as well as reducing partner, shareholder, and customer trust. One of the major challenges that enterprises face is implementing a robust business continuity plan.
What's the solution?
The answer may lie in disaster recovery tactics such as truly immutable storage and regular disaster recovery testing.
Future-Proofing Business: Strategic Storage Investments
There are two main ingredients needed to perfect disaster recovery and business continuity: immutable storage and regular recovery testing to prove the effectiveness of runbooks and disaster recovery plans. The combination of these two will ensure a robust disaster recovery plan that not only provides tighter security and lower recovery costs and downtime but also ensures loyalty among customers, regulatory compliance, and peace of mind. This may be the only way to ensure quick resolutions after an attack or a catastrophic incident.
With cyberattacks targeting backup data in 93% of cases, immutable backups are a must-have for any robust business continuity Plan (BCP). Immutable backups create tamper-proof copies of data, protecting it from cyber threats, accidental deletion, and corruption. This guarantees that critical data can be quickly restored, allowing businesses to recover swiftly from disruptions. Immutable storage provides data copies that cannot be manipulated or altered, ensuring data remains secure and can quickly be recovered from an attack.
In addition to immutable backup storage, response plans must be continually tested and updated to combat the evolving threat landscape and adapt to growing business needs. The ultimate test of a response plan ensures data can be quickly and easily restored or failed over, depending on the event. Activating a second site in the case of a natural disaster or recovering systems without making any ransomware payments in the case of an attack. This testing involves validating the reliability of backup systems, recovery procedures, and the overall disaster recovery plan to minimize downtime and ensure business continuity.
So why are so many organizations struggling to implement these technologies and tactics?
Write Once, Regret Never: Solving Immutable Storage Challenges
Several factors could contribute to the lack of adoption of Immutable storage: budget restraints, compliance and regulation, and false vendor claims. In this volatile market, enterprises may not be able to increase their storage and data recovery budget, mistakenly putting immutable storage on the back burner. However, prioritizing immutable storage will save businesses from huge financial losses when attacked by a bad actor or face data loss and workflow disruptions.
The data compliance landscape is robust, and regulation should be a priority for all business leaders. They may overlook advanced storage solutions for fear of not meeting compliance and regulation requirements. However, immutable storage should be built around the latest Zero Trust and data security principles, which assume that individuals, devices, and services attempting to access company resources are compromised and should not be trusted, thus meeting regulatory compliance such as the European NIS2 directive.
It can be challenging for IT teams trying to determine the perfect fit for their ecosystem, as many storage vendors claim to provide immutable storage but are missing key features. As a rule of thumb, if "immutable" data can be overwritten by a backup or storage admin, a vendor, or an attacker, then it is not a truly immutable storage solution. The only way to truly evaluate if immutable storage providers are selling truly immutable solutions is to follow the five immutable requirements.
S3 object storage or a fully documented, open standard with native immutability that enables independent penetration testing is imperative. Backup data must be immutable the moment it is written and cannot be modified, deleted, or reset by any administrator, internal or external. Backup software and backup storage must be physically isolated to prevent compromised credentials from being used to alter or destroy data, and to provide resilience against other disasters. Lastly, a dedicated hardware appliance must be used to isolate immutable storage from virtualized attack surfaces, removing all risks during setup, updates, and maintenance.
Navigating the Challenges of Disaster Recovery Testing for Immutable Storage
CIOs typically prioritize protection and prevention rather than modernizing recovery. This is partly due to concerns over talent shortages and time restraints, as well as a lack of awareness of the benefits of these tests. It's true that notifications and alert fatigue overrun many cybersecurity teams, and they may feel that they do not have enough time to run these tests while also monitoring and securing the network. However, testing will limit the time it will take to respond and defend against an attack, while saving time across the company.
Additionally, some CIOs may not be fully aware of the benefits that disaster recovery testing provides and the importance of testing immutable backup storage to prevent data loss from a slew of security incidents. They may fall victim to underestimating the risks associated with failing to run these tests. Still, the risks of not having a robust business continuity disaster recovery plan could be fatal.
As data continues to grow in value and volume, businesses must prioritize their security and recovery. By adding regular testing to their recovery platforms and solutions, organizations are more likely to recover quicker and have less operational downtime. Embracing truly immutable storage and conducting regular disaster recovery tests to ensure their effectiveness is crucial for business continuity plans.